Traditional leader victim to Covid-19

As the number of positive cases in the Eastern Cape continues to soar, more and more people are losing loved ones to Covid19-related complications. Traditional leader Nkosi Mlungisi Tsipa of Amazizi’s Lower Mission is one such victim.

Tsipa died on Thursday at the age of 66 and will be buried in Lower Mission at his family home on Wednesday. He was part of a committee visiting schools to inspect their state of readiness when he fell ill.

Tsipa led the Amazizi administrative area from 1997 and represented the Amazizi traditional authority in the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders for two terms.

Tsipa’s brother, Simphiwe, described him as a pioneer of development and an activist against drug and alcohol abuse in the community.

“My brother played a huge role in uplifting sport in our area. At the house of traditional leaders he managed to travel the Eastern Cape teaching about safe traditional circumcision,” Simphiwe said.

“He spent a lot of time in Bizana and Libode, where there was a crisis in traditional circumcision.”

According to his brother, Tsipa was a man of traditions and customs and he gave his life to serving his community.

He said as a royal house they wanted everyone to know that his brother died of Covid-19 and that people should urgently learn about the virus and how to take precautions.

On Monday, the brother of University of Fort Hare vicechancellor Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, Temba Buhlungu, and his wife, Nobantu Buhlungu, succumbed to Covid-19 just four days apart from each other. They were buried in Tyeni in Tsolo on Saturday.

On Tuesday Eastern Cape department of social development communications, media liaison and customer care director Gcobani Maswana died from Covid-19 complications.